Puerto Rico Open Notes

Dates: March 4 –10

Where: Trump International Golf Club – Puerto Rico

Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,569 yards Field: 132

2012 Champion: George McNeill

Purse: $3,500,000/$630,000

FedEx Cup Points: 300 points to the winner

Website: gotopuertoricoopen.com

Facebook: PuertoRicoOpen

Twitter: @PuertoRicoOpen

A look back at the 2012 Puerto Rico Open

54-hole leader George McNeill birdied the last three holes of the final round to post a three-under par 69 to clinch a 1-stroke victory over Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa. The victory was McNeill’s second victory on the PGA TOUR. His first win came five years earlier at the Frys.com Open.

More on George McNeill

Earned his second PGA TOUR victory in his 145th career start at the age of 36 years, 5 months, 9 days at the 2012 Puerto Rico Open. He finished fifth in his only other start at the Puerto Rico Open in 2011. Entering the 2012 Puerto Rico Open, McNeill had six runner-up finishes and was without a victory since winning the 2007 Frys.com Open in his rookie season.

4-for-4 in made cuts in 2013 but searching for first top-25 finish of the season.

Finished the 2012 campaign 86th in FedExCup points and 91st on the money list.

All four winners of the Puerto Rico Open reside within 130 miles of each other on Florida’s Gulf Coast: George McNeill (Fort Myers), Derek Lamely (Fort Myers), Michael Bradley (Valrico) and Greg Kraft (Clearwater). Lamely even bought McNeill’s house during that time period.

A glance at the field

Ryo Ishikawa returns to the Puerto Rico Open where he finished second to George McNeill in 2012. The runner-up finish is his best finish to date on the PGA TOUR.

Casey Wittenberg, who finished number one on the Web.com Tour money list in 2012, is playing in his second Puerto Rico Open. Wittenberg has made three cuts this year with his best finish coming at the Farmers Insurance Open (T15).

Si Woo Kim finished T20 at PGA TOUR Q-School to earn his card for 2013 at the age of 17. Kim cannot become a full member of the PGA TOUR until he turns 18 in June 6. With this sponsor’s invitation, Kim will be playing in his second event of the season, having missed the cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Former top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Paul Casey was hampered most of 2012 with various injuries and is playing out of the Past Champion category in 2013.

19-year-old Jordan Spieth, who turned professional last fall, is making his third start on the PGA TOUR in 2013; his best finish came at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (T22). Spieth was a first-team All-America as a freshman at the University of Texas.

Patrick Cantlay, the former No. 1 amateur while at UCLA, is a Web.com Tour member in 2013. He finished T9 earlier this year at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, his second career top-10 and first as a professional.

Web.com Tour graduate James Hahn finished in the top five at the Humana Challenge (T4) and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (T3) and sits second among rookies in FedExCup points, 22nd overall.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who defeated Rory McIlroy in the first round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, will play as an international exemption.

Former No. 1 amateur and 2010 U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein will play on a sponsor exemption.

Former Auburn golfer Blayne Barber, who received disqualified himself from the second stage of last fall’s Qualifying School after realizing a rules infraction in stage one, will play on a sponsor exemption.

Hispanic players in the field Puerto Rico

Rafael Campos – Played PGA TOUR Latinoamérica full-time in 2012, finishing 12th on the Order of Merit with his best finish coming at the Mundo Maya Open (T4). He is making his sixth appearance at the Puerto Rico Open.

Edward Figueroa – Making his second start at the Puerto Rico Open, having missed the cut last year by one stroke.

Max Alverio – Played in five tournaments on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica in 2012 making the cut in three tournaments. His best finish came at the Transamerican Power Products CRV Open (T36). This will be his fifth consecutive year playing in the Puerto Rico Open.

Venezuela

Jorge Garcia – Won the 2013 Puerto Rico Junior Open thus earning a spot into the 2013 Puerto Rico open, his first career start on the PGA TOUR.

Colombia

Camilo Villegas – Three-time winner on the PGA TOUR will be playing the Puerto Rico Open for the first time in 2013.

Manuel Villegas – Has played in the Puerto Rico three times with his best finish coming in 2009 (T44). The 2013 Puerto Rico Open marks the second event he has played in with his brother Camilo on the PGA TOUR. Camilo finished T8 at the 2010 FedEx St. Jude Classic while Manny missed the cut.

Argentina

Angel Cabrera – The two-time major champion makes his third start at the Puerto Rico Open. His best finish, a T7, came in his inaugural start at this event.

Andres Romero – A third place finish at the 2012 Reno-Tahoe Open helped him secure his PGA TOUR card for the 2013 season. Finished last year’s Puerto Rico Open T20.

Fabian Gomez – Has made two cuts in 2013 with his best finish coming at the Humana Challenge (T27). Finished T7 in his only career start at the Puerto Rico Open.

Brazil

Alexandre Rocha – This will be his second start on the PGA TOUR in 2013. Rocha will mainly play the Web.com Tour in 2013 as he looks to get back to the PGA TOUR full-time in hopes of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Mexico

Sebastian Vazquez – Played PGA TOUR Latinoamérica full-time in 2012, his best finish came at the Puerto Rico Classic where he won by two-strokes over Jorge Fernandez-Valdes.

SOURCE: PGA TOUR